Posts tagged with: kishore jayabalan

The Center for American Progress (CAP) has boldly rebutted the arguments of our own Kishore Jayabalan, director of Istituto Acton, concerning the Vatican’s note on a “central world bank.” It has done so by showing him to be lacking in “respect for the inherent dignity of human life.” … Yes, we are talking about that Center for American Progress.

In a feature on their website that purports to tie last month’s Vatican note to the Occupy Wall Street movement, CAP offers this smarmy response to the analysis Jayabalan gave.

Some conservative Catholic commentators are not as supportive, however….

Kishore Jayabalan of the conservative Catholic Acton Institute said that the note’s appeal to an international authority contradicts the church’s teaching that problems are best solved starting at local levels of authority, also known as the doctrine of subsidiarity.

What these conservatives are missing is that the note draws heavily from the tradition of Catholic social teachings on justice and respect for the inherent dignity of human life. This is where the Occupy movement finds an ally.

CAP has one-upped us doctrinally: where Jayabalan is concerned with minor theological nuances like the doctrine of subsidiarity, their minds are fixed on higher principles like respect for human dignity, the most immediate threat to which is the great and terrible free market.

“At heart, it is a moral enterprise,” say CAP’s Jake Paysour about Occupy Wall Street. Yes, except at the hearts of its camps, where women dare not go because their human dignity is respected only as much as strong men find it convenient.

CAP’s record on human dignity speaks for itself. Its position on the lives of unborn children, for example, could not be any more out of line with Catholic teaching on “justice and respect for the inherent dignity of human life.” It is shocking that CAP even uses those words: the suggestion that they give one hoot about Church teaching on human dignity is nonsense.

I will resist the temptation of a GetReligion-style dismantling of the feature, since it would sail right over their heads at CAP, but I must point out that the Church’s principles of social justice were not “set forth 80 years ago” in Quadrogesimo Anno, as the author claims, but rather 40 years before in Rerum Novarum (hence the second encyclical’s name — not that we should expect anyone there to have any Latin). I don’t mean to make an ad hominem argument, but if you can’t get that right, what are you doing trying to explain the relative weights of principles first explicated in Rerum Novarum?

In the future: If you’re going to use the words of an Acton Institute expert, it is expected that you will avoid the shameless contortion of facts and logic that CAP indulged in today.

The spectre of a hard Greek default and euro exit hung over a meeting of G20 leaders beginning in Cannes on Thursday. U.S. President Barack Obama said after talks with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy that Europe had made some important steps towards a comprehensive solution to its sovereign debt crisis but needed to put more flesh on the bones and implement the plan. The world is counting on the G20 to find a way out of the crisis, before it begins spreading to other parts of the globe.

“A lot of what is happening…at the G20 summit in France over the next couple days is really the inevitable consequences of a three or four year unwillingness of European politicians, and I would say American politicians as well, to deal with what’s obvious to most people is paying attention to this debt crisis,” said Kishore Jayabalan, the Director of the Rome office of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

“At some point government leaders are going to have to be frank and tell people they can’t rely on government benefits indefinitely,” he told Vatican Radio. “The entire scheme was based promises that can’t be kept.”

Jayabalan said in the future, people are going to be forced to be more self-reliant, and create their own opportunities.

Click on the player below to listen in:

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Kishore Jayabalan… welcomed the Vatican’s attempt to deal with the economic crisis, but he said their conclusions were based on “political and economic ignorance rather than experience.”

But the note, written by the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, lacks more than sound economics; it lacks theological depth. It speaks throughout of the common good, but without a moral framework, that common good can have little ethical consequence. The kind of economic reform the note calls for could only be motivated by a conception of the common good rooted in a full, Christian understanding of human nature. Jayabalan again: “[the note] doesn’t speak of God or the natural law and so neglects this substantial notion of the common good,”

There is comparatively little talk even of greed and idolatry in the note — those vices seem get more attention at Occupy Wall Street drum circles than at the PCPJ. We’ll talk about them though:

Jayabalan, a former official at the Pontifical Council, said greed and idolatry are permanently recurring temptations that require “constructive ways” to combat them. And yet “quite surprisingly for an office of the Roman Curia and from a Catholic perspective, the note does not tell us much about the spiritual battle that must take place.”

Rather than draft this note, Jayabalan said the Vatican should have drawn on the “economic wisdom of the division of labor” which would have told them “to stick to what it knows and does best.”

Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Istituto Acton in Rome, was interviewed by Vatican Radio to discuss the Italian budget. Italy has a large budget crisis, and if it isn’t resolved, it may face serious financial problems similar to those experienced by Greece.

Lawmakers in Italy have begun working on austerity measures, which was the topic of Jayabalan’s interview:

“Austerity is fairly important for the Italian economy,” says Kishore Jayabalan, the director of the Rome office of the Acton Institute. But he says even with austerity, Italy will need economic growth to pay its debts.

[…]

“They are creating all kinds of impediments for economic growth. If you want to get the Italian economy reformed, the political class not only is going to have to do things like get rid of regulations, but really cut down the bureaucracy, because that is what is really bringing down the Italian economy,” Jayabalan said.

In the following Video, Istituto Acton Director and conference moderator, Kishore Jayabalan, spoke candidly to UniRoma TV along with morning panelist, Dr. Raquel Vaz-Pinto of the Catholic University of Portugal.

Kishore Jayabalan says that when difficult ethical problems arise in economies, we are expected to use our “reason and faith” to resolve moral dilemmas and that the Church plays a most vital role in educating society in basic moral principles. Dr.Vaz-Pinto says that in terms of advancing the necessary foundations of a free society, Asia has made great progress in demanding higher standards for human and political rights as businesses are left freer to grow and develop on their own.

Istituto Acton held a private viewing and debate on The Call of the Entrepreneur in the romantic city of Verona, better known for its romantic association with Romeo and Juliet than with one of Italy’s most enterprising commercial regions.

Arranged and sponsored by the investors group – Noi Soci – of Cattolica Assicurazione, a private insurance company founded 115 years at the turn of the 19th century, the documentary was shown on April 1 to a private audience of 220 of the company’s stakeholders, colleagues and business partners – who actually showed up early – a rarity of time management and courtesy not often experienced in the southern city of Rome, where Acton’s Italian office is located.

The company’s original mission, based on protecting the private landholdings of farmers against natural disaster, was the brainchild of 34 entrepreneurs who boasted more than 14 Catholic priests in its original investment group.

When I heard this story, I had to ask the president of Cattolica Immobilare (the real estate investment firm owned entirely by Cattolica Assicurazioni), Enrico Racasi, to repeat what he had just told us.

“Few people realize this, but among the insurance company’s original founders there were actually 14 priests who were very much concerned about the survival and welfare of local enterprise”, Racasi said.

“We still commence our executive meetings with prayer and often meet for Mass beforehand … We need priests to become entrepreneurs again. Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we were all working privately together for the common good? But times have really changed!”

Debate and commentary on the film included inspiring remarks from Verona’s mayor, Flavio Tosi, a “no excuses” conservative politician from the north. Tosi said that politicians should be much less concerned about “legislating a good society” in order to “let private individuals lead the way” to work hard and improve society themselves.

“Everyone should work with a spirit of calling and moral purpose … All we (politicians) can do is encourage free enterprise among our citizenry through adequate public policies and fiscal incentives.”

One of the entrepreneurs present on the speaker panel, Giuseppe Pasini, president of Federation of the Italian Steel Companies, Federacciai, said Jimmy Lai’s story as portrayed by the documentary was most inspiring.

The original Article Who’s Responding: “The Call of the Entrepreneur” in La Spezia was written by Francesco Bellotti for the Italian newspaper “Avvenire” (translation and editorial contributions from Michael Severance):

Kishore Jayabalan responds to questions in the industrial city of La Spezia

“The Christian entrepreneur is not the person who goes about wealth creation all week and then leaves a nice offering at church on Sunday. Rather, he is exemplified by the type of person who gives the best of himself to create wealth and opportunity for himself and others,” said Mr. Kishore Jayabalan, Director of the Italian office of the American think tank, Acton Institute, while introducing the premier showing of the Acton documentary “The Call of the Entrepreneur” at the Teleliguria Sud TV studios in La Spezia, Italy last February 19.

The documentary’s showing and debate on television was organized in collaboration with the Movement of Christian Workers of La Spezia before a private audience of entrepreneurs, business executives, and free-lance professionals invited from the northern Italian region of Liguria.

“No doubt there are greedy entrepreneurs, just like any other group of greedy professionals and tradesmen,” Mr. Jayabalan said. “But they are certainly not defined by this (vice).”

For the good entrepreneur, “risk-taking is born out of his trust and hope in the future. He perceives things that others do not easily see and works to build something where there is nothing.”

Continuing his reflection on the entrepreneurial vocation, Jayabalan stressed that economics is not like a game of poker.

“Economics is not zero sum game in which the rich get richer at the expense of the poor. The free market is a means by which all of man’s material needs may be satisfied.” The entrepreneur must “study his fellow men in order to better satisfying their needs. In this way, his creative work contributes to the common good. What’s more, he creates jobs while risking his very own well-being.”

To be sure, it is not this way for all entrepreneurs, but “we must know how to recognize and value such a vocation that is absolutely rich in meaning, especially in the social sense,” said Jayabalan.

When asked, how can we help support the growth of entrepreneurship, Jayabalan concluded by saying “we cannot “program or plan” for good entrepreneurs to come about. Indeed, they are persons who respond to a certain calling. But, at any rate, there are some fundamental conditions which our state institutions must guarantee to facilitate entrepreneurship, namely: respect for private property, rule of law, minimal bureaucracy, and fair taxation.”

One of the panelists at the debate, Massimo Ansaldo, an attorney and executive member of Italian Catholic business society “Compangnia delle Opere di Liguria”, said: “When thinking about it, the principle of subsidiarity must be followed, in order for us to pass on social responsibility from the state directly into the hands of the local private intermediaries, such as the family, businessmen, professional associations and cooperatives.

Gianluca Ceccarelli, an infopreneur on the discussion panel, said, “With my work, I am able to support my family. I am not interested in earning huge lumps of money, but rather reinvesting it to continually improve my state…The internet affords endless information and opportunity for growth. It is an incredible phenomenon, though we need to know how to take advantage of what it offers, otherwise we can easily lose our wealth.”

Gian Piero Marafante, an entrepreneur in attendance, gave his reactions to the documentary: “What I like most is teamwork in building up business. Often people ask me why I am so willing to share my business secrets with my colleagues. My answer is that, first off, no one can take my experience from me. But, above all, when teaching others my skills I contribute to the growth of the team and gain tremendous satisfaction from this.”

Finally, Rev. Pietro Damian of the nearby Diocese of Massa Carrara and immigrant from Bucharest, gave his personal testimony from the speaker panel: “When I arrived in Italy, I came to understand the ‘secret’ of economic development in Western countries.”

“Unlike in communist countries where the state owned everything, here people could freely develop (wealth) according to their own talent and ingenuity,” he said.

“My participations in Acton’s educational initiatives (Acton University) in the United States has enriched my knowledge and inspired my pastoral outreach to promote the values that have made our civilization great. Without faith, we risk stifling progress, even in economic terms! Instead of ideologically demonizing business, let’s inspire a rebirth of a culture that unites free enterprise with ethical responsibility, as we find its very foundation in our Christian faith.”

The Acton Institute’s Italian premier of “The Call of the Entrepreneur” in the city of La Spezia was the first of many more showings foreseen in the coming months to stimulate debate in Italy on the virtues of entrepreneurship. Soon the American think tank will travel to Verona for another showing of its documentary before members of the Union of Christian Entrepreneurs and Managers from the Italian region of Veneto.

Electronic engineer Dr. Francesco Bellotti is Professor of Industrial Research and Development for the University of Genoa.

Kishore Jayabalan, Director of the Acton Institute’s Rome office, made an appearance today on Vatican Radio to discuss efforts by the G-20 nations to address the growing problem of rising food prices around the world. Jayabalan discusses how natural events and bad policy are both contributing to the sharp rise in prices seen of late. Listen to the full interview using the audio player below:

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Last week Jordan Ballor joined Paul Edwards to discuss the recently concluded Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization and the broader ecumenical movement. They talked about the relationship between “mainline” and “evangelical” ecumenical groups and the role of these groups in articulating the public and social witness of Christians all over the world. Also be sure to check out his new book, Ecumenical Babel: Confusing Economic Ideology and the Church’s Social Witness.

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Acton President Rev. Robert A. Sirico spent an hour on Religion, Politics and the Culturewith host Dennis O’Donovan and several callers yesterday discussing Tea Party politics and Catholics. (Hey – did you know that Father Sirico is now on Twitter? You didn’t? Get with the program – follow him here.)

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Kishore Jayalaban, Director of Acton’s Rome office, appeared today on Vatican Radio to discuss the decision made at this week’s European Union summit to create a “permanent mechanism” to deal with the financial crisis. Translation: the EU has created a permanent bailout fund. Needless to say, Kishore is not impressed, and explains why in a nearly ten-minute interview.

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Acton President Rev. Robert A. Sirico and Kishore Jayabalan, the Director of Acton’s Rome office, joined host Al Kresta on Kresta in the Afternoon on Friday along with another guest to discuss the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI as the world marks the fifth anniversary of his elevation to the papacy; audio of the segment is available via the audio player below.

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